Beware of the Small Things
By Naseeb Khan
Ahmad is a devoted Muslim youth. He is always well dressed and does not miss a single Salaah. He goes to the masjid everyday to pray Fajr Salaah and is there almost every evening to make Magrib Salaah too. Today he is late for Fajr and has to speed down the road and go through one red light. There were no cops in sight at that early hour and Ahmad felt safe. Ahmad is also very active in Islamic Da’wah and he was always seen giving away cassettes and CD’s of lectures by Muslim scholars.
Ahmad is to be admired for his dedication and strong faith but Ahmad is missing some very important things – the small things. In our zeal to do good deeds, we so often neglect the small things and it is these things that are very important. It is these small things that we sometimes overlook. The scholars say that when minor sins are accompanied by lack of shame or remorse, no fear of Allah, and are taken lightly, then there is the risk that they will be counted as major sins. The Prophet (SA) also warned us by saying “beware of minor sins, for they will pile up until they destroy a person”.
Ahmad in his desire to reach in time for Salaah, drove over the speed limit. This is breaking the law of the land and this raises a question. Can we break the law of the land if it does not contradict an Islamic law or principle? Can we make an exception because we live in a country that is not governed by Islam? Is it okay to break the law? The scholars have always been very clear on this matter. They separate the rules and laws into two groups. The first are those laws and rules that are designed to organize and administrate society and help citizens to live in a peaceful and safe manner. The other types of rules are those that promote unIslam or promote behavior that are not recommended in Islam. An example of the first type of behavior is the traffic lights and lanes on the roads. An example of the second type is the promotion of Halloween as a holiday and celebration.
In relation the first type of rules and laws, it is basic common sense that we must strive to always obey them for the consequences of violating them will cost us both money and may even land us in jail. If we were to live in a society that is ruled by the laws of Islam, would we feel okay if the non-muslims living there decided that they will not stop at traffic lights. Of course not. Thus we must come to grips with this reality and be careful of the small things. Here is a list of common things we do and often times think nothing of it. I know that many of you may disagree with me for I intend to be frank in order to really convey my points.
a. Speeding
It is illegal to drive over the speed limit. We are usually allowed an extra five miles an hour over the speed limit where the cops will not issue a ticket but as Muslims we must try to avoid driving over the speed limit. When you drive over the speed limit, you become a very tense and stressed driver. You are looking to see if there are any cops hiding. You cannot concentrate on your driving fully. You feel a sense of guilt and also a faster car is a more dangerous vehicle. It is not worth it and it can cost you a lot of money. Driving in the United States is not a right but a privilege. Remember this. This privilege can be revoked from you. From a da’wah stand point, it is embarrassing to be caught speeding and it sends the wrong message about the kind of people we are as Muslims. Think of these things when we speed.
b. Beating the Red light
The same is true for the red light and all the other traffic laws. As Muslims, you should try to learn the laws of the road and obey them as much as possible. This is part of being a good Muslim and citizen.
c. Cheating in Exam
The Prophet (SA) said that he who cheats is not one of us. It is not okay to cheat in exams and tests in school or anywhere else. Sometimes we do this and really think nothing of it. Some of us are even proud that we were able to beat the system and we boast about it. In college, we even have people who pay others to do their homework and even take their test for them. We even have people who pay others to attend classes posing as them and they take the course and sit the exam for them. All of this is cheating and it is not what being Muslim is all about.
d. Lying on your resume
This is a common practice done by many people but it is not the way of the sincere Muslim. We are not allowed to just lie on our resume because it suits the job better. Somehow we do this and do not really think it is wrong. It is both a lie and deception at the same time. We are lying on the resume and our intent is to deceive our potential employer into thinking we are more experienced, knowledgeable and qualified than we really are. We want them to give us the job that we may not be really capable to do. If we were the employer, we would not like anyone to do this to us. Do not do this.
e. Copying CD’s and Tapes
Ahmad made copies of CD’s and tapes and gave them out for free as da’wah materials. The content in books, CD’s and tapes are the intellectual property of the scholar, writer or artist that produced it. It is forbidden for us to disburse this or distribute it without their express permission. Usually in books, you will see the author expressly saying that no copy or any means of distribution must be done without the author’s permission. This must be respected. Ahmad Deedat (may Allah have mercy on him) in all of his books would give permission to all to reproduce his books. The same is done for CD,s and tapes. When we just make copies and distribute, we are undermining the financial profits of the artist or scholar as they cannot sell as much as they would like. This of course limits their financial potential to do bigger and better work. We are in essence stifling Islamic entrepreneurship.
f. Copying Software
The same is applicable for software. You are not allowed to pirate software by making illegal copies. This is a serious matter. The fines are very huge for companies who are caught doing this. It is not something to be treated lightly. It is also very important to keep away from downloading illegal programs or software. Many of us do not realize that on the law books, data is considered a commodity and when we download some data from a foreign website, in some cases we are required to get an import license. I know it sounds crazy but it is true. Be very careful when we dabble in the “data download arena”.
g. Receiving Extra Change
Sometimes we go to the grocery store and they make a mistake in giving us “cash change”. If they give us short change, we are quick to point this out to them. When we are given extra change we quietly take it and do not say anything nor do we return it. We rationalize this by saying that they should know what they are doing and if they don’t then it is their loss. Some of us even try to convince ourselves that they must have given us this as a reward for something or the other. We are not allowed to do this. We should make effort to return this extra change.
h. Cheating at our taxes
The IRS every year report on how many millions of dollars they lose because of people cheating on their taxes. How can we make Salaah to Allah and then choose to cheat on our taxes? We rationalize this by saying this is an unIslamic nation that fights Islam with our tax money. The reality is that the roads, parks, bridges and so many services we receive are all made available to us because of taxes. We would be angry if we were to call 911 in an emergency and no one answered because they were short-staffed due to a lack of money. We would want to sue someone if our house was on fire but the fire department did not send anyone to out it due to shortage of firemen. We live here and it is our responsibility to pay our taxes.
i. Garbage
If I had a dime for every time I saw people in cars who throw garbage out of the window, I would be much much richer than I am today. This terrible practice is not only horrible but dangerous as the garbage can float and hit the car that is traveling behind. As Muslims we must be very keen not to litter at any time. We must anticipate the acquisition of garbage and make suitable plans to deal with it. Under no circumstances should we throw stuff out of our car window. Whenever I see this, I always immediately lose respect for the perpetrators of this practice. I unconsciously consider them uncultured.
j. Borrowing Stuff
So often we borrow stuff from others and then we are not as keen to return them. When we borrow we must know that this is an amaana (trust). We are obligated to return what we borrow. This is true for money, books or whatever else. Create a system to remember what we borrow from others so that we will not forget easily. It is our responsibilit to remember to return what we borrow. We should not give the one who we borrow from the hardship of having to remind us as this is often difficult. Also if we are borrowing for a particular period, say two days etc, we must honor this or else go and ask for an extension. This is all part of being a good Muslim.
k. Returning Stuff
It is not proper and okay to buy something from the store with the intention of using it and then returning the item after we use it. We must buy with the idea that we are planning to keep it. If something develops after with the item that we did not anticipate, then it is okay to return it as this is a different situation. Also when we return stuff and the person at the counter ask us why we are retruning the stuff, please do not feel the need to lie to them. Let them know the truth about why you are returning the item. This is the Islamic way.
l. Lying
The Prophet has warned us about lying. He said a Muslim never lies. Some of the scholars say that based on this hadith, you are actually out of the pale of Islam at the time of lying and you need to make the Shahaddah again. Lying is also considered an aspect of shirk as it is seeking to represent a reality that Allah did not put there. Quite often we tend to lie to our doctors, on application forms, when we apply for contests or coupons etc. In Islam we do not have the concept of white lie (harmless lie) or any other color. As Muslims we must always strive to be truthful and never lie.
I can go on and on but I think you get the point. We do not want to live our lives thinking we are this pious, conscious and committed Muslims and then be surprised on the “day of judgment” when we are presented with all of these things that we did. It is the small things we must be careful about. Anas in Al Bukhari pointed out this condition when he said “You do things which in your eyes are less significant than a hair, but at the time of the Messenger of Allah (SA), we used to count them as things that could destroy a man.” We are believers and not sinners. We have a different attitude and behavior. Ibn Mas’ood said “The believer regards his sin as if he were sitting beneath a mountain which he fears may fall on him, whereas the sinner regards his sin as if a fly landed on his nose and he swipes it away.”
Beware of the small things my brothers and sisters.
I know some of what I have said are really big things.
My reminder to you is to beware of the small things!
